Storm2k Gets Media Attention

[Regit]

An article was published this week the The (Columbia, SC) State that made mention of Storm2k. The author of the article seems to have visited only the Tropical Analysis forum. He quotes member BayouVenteux from a post in that forum and mentions that only approved forecasters may start threads on the site. Regardless, it's a good article and always nice to get media attention.

The State is a McClatchy (formerly Knight Ridder) publication. It is the largest newspaper in SC, printing 113,000 copies per day. It also has a heavily travelled website. On the web version of the article, readers may link directly to Storm2k. On the version I posted, the links won't work because of punctuation.





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Storm surge
Hurricane junkies flood Web looking for more data, passionate weather talk
By JOEY HOLLEMAN - jholleman@thestate.com

When a hurricane roars to life in the Atlantic this summer, the media will go into saturation mode.

There’ll be blaring headlines in newspapers, round-the-clock coverage on The Weather Channel and frenetic reports on cable news channels. For most people, that’s more than enough. But the hurricane junkies, those who soak up every tropical tidbit, turn to the Internet for more.

Hurricanes represent the perfect storm for online fanatics. Satellites and science create an impressive array of graphics. Storms move slowly, allowing time to discuss the possibilities on blogs and message boards. And despite improvements in forecasting, there is still enough unpredictability to make discussion lively.

More importantly, it’s not some esoteric science project. Hurricanes have critical consequences.

Because of those consequences, however, some experts worry about the influence of hurricane-related Web sites, some of which are put together by people without science credentials. Blogs and message boards are even more troublesome because readers have no idea of the writers’ expertise.

“I hate to sound like a weather snob, but I don't look at any of the weather blogs or bulletin boards,” said Mark Malsick, the severe weather meteorologist with the State Climate Office. “I had some salty Navy forecasters beat into me early in my career to look at the charts, do your own forecast, and get your forecast out on time. You can literally get vapor locked trying to read what everyone else says about a storm.”

Greg Carbone, who teaches climatology courses at the University of South Carolina, worries little about the Web’s hurricane-info overload.

“In the end, I don’t find the private guys dangerous because most folks get their information from very credible sources first,” Carbone said. “The more curious find their way to these sites for supplemental information.”

A quick rundown of some online hurricane resources also sheds light on the kinds of web worlds weather geeks find themselves in during the eye of any storm.

STARTING POINT

Everyone should start with the National Hurricane Center site, http://www.nhc.noaa.gov. If there’s an active tropical system, the pertinent information is easy to find on the home page. You will find the basic information used by all media outlets. The National Hurricane Center is the only source for official hurricane predictions, watches and warnings.

But, as Carbone noted, the National Hurricane Center errs on the side of caution. That’s one reason some hurricane geeks head to other sites.

Of course, the National Hurricane Center has to be cautious. If the forecast cone it uses graphically to display the potential area a storm will hit is wide and prompts too many people to evacuate, that might cost an area millions in tourism. But if it narrowed that area and the storm took an out-of-the-norm track, thousands of lives could be lost.

If a self-proclaimed expert with a Web site is wrong, only pride is at stake. So pay attention to the NHC site and leave when they, and local authorities, recommend leaving.

TRUSTED NAMES

If you can’t understand the weather-speak in the National Hurricane Center forecast discussion, try one of the more recognized weather Web sites for explanations in layman’s terms. Two of the best are http://www.wunderground.com and The Weather Channel’s http://www.weather.com. Their expert forecasters write easy-to-understand updates.

Wunderground is a hybrid site, once an educational site affiliated with the University of Michigan and now a private site with advertising. The blogs and message boards start with comments from true experts. But readers have no idea about the credentials of people who post responses under screen names like “Pure Science” and “Tazmanian” and “crackerlogic.”

During the discussion in May about whether the National Hurricane Center should have named sub-tropical storm Andrea, one of the seemingly knowledgeable posters mentioned he/she was about to graduate from high school.

Some sites take steps to keep their message boards from getting too far afield from science.

On http://www.storm2k.org, only members with verified weather knowledge can start message board threads, and there was discussion of limiting who could respond in message boards last year when some writers went overboard.

“Perhaps the (site administrators) could set up a specially dedicated forum for those members who are into observing the last one or two frames of satellite loops with a zeal for detail once reserved for the likes of the Zapruder film, and title it ‘Wobble Watching,’” one sarcastic contributor wrote.

TAKING YOU THERE

On http://www.hurricanetrack.com, host Mark Sudduth leads what he calls the Hurricane Intercept Research Team, which tries to get in the path of incoming hurricanes. Essentially, it’s to learn more about hurricanes, but the crew seems to have a little bit of daredevil in them. Visiting this site as a hurricane approaches land is like talking on the phone to a relative who opts to ride out the storm.

Other sites are devoted to storm chasing. If you’re fascinated by photos and video of storms, one of the best sites belongs to local storm chaser Jim Reed, who lives in the Midlands during hurricane season and in Kansas during tornado season. Go to http://www.jimreedphoto.com to see storms as art.

While it is intriguing to view photos and videos on storm chaser sites as a hurricane approaches or has just passed, some might find the discussions on their message boards troubling. After the recent deadly tornado outbreak in Oklahoma, a message board string on one site dealt with ethics. The question: Is it wrong for storm chasers to sound excited as they film a tornado flattening an entire town?

COOL FACTS, GRAPHICS

One reason to visit the non-governmental hurricane sites is their easy-to-understand graphics. Hurricanetrack.com has one that allows you to click on a map and get data on how many miles the center of a storm is from any coastal city.

On http://www.hurricanecity.com, an interesting component ranks cities by the historical likelihood of their being hit by a hurricane. No city in South Carolina makes the top 50. Based on the site’s criteria, tropical systems have impacted Charleston 31 times in 136 years, with direct hits every 11.33 years.

Many of the historical facts can be found on the National Hurricane Center site, but it takes some searching. Other sites make it easy. Two hours after Andrea was named on May 9, for instance, one of the message board regulars at http://www.storm2k.org listed the dates for the first named storm every season back to 1851.

Graphics showing warmth of the ocean surface moisture and atmospheric moisture also are available on various governmental or university sites. But the volume of graphics on http://www.atwc.org and http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Tropical/ can be overwhelming.

Some private sites do a good job of pulling all of those together, making them easy to find and offering a little explanation. One graphic-heavy site is thestormtrack.com.

CLOSE TO HOME

As a storm draws close to South Carolina, the local National Weather Service Web sites offer more detailed warnings and information for coastal areas. The two sites that cover the S.C. coast are http://www.erh.noaa.gov/chs and http://www.erh.noaa.gov/ilm.

If you want even more local information, check out a new site put together by the National Weather Service and universities in the Carolinas: http://www.weather.gov/carolinascoast. With a click of the mouse, you can get real-time measures of wind speed, wave height and atmospheric pressure at buoys and along the coast.

Reach Holleman at (803) 771-8366.


The State

[southerngale]

Awesome! I wonder why they only visited that one forum though. hehe... that was senorpepr and his "May 9 and storms brought to you by the letter A" that they mentioned.

Btw, the 2nd link to storm2k does work.

[mf_dolphin]

Thanks for posting that!

[TexasStooge]

Awesome!

[chadtm80]

Very cool.. Thanks Regit

[GulfBreezer]

Well, that is just pretty darn cool!!

Thanks REGIT!!

[JonathanBelles]

Thats awesome!

[MSRobi911]

Fantastic and I wear my S2K T-shirt every chance I get and people always ask me questions about it!!!! Get em now.....

Mary

PS by the way I am still waiting on my custom made one from CajunMama and Bre! How long has it been???? a year now????

[mf_dolphin]

I'm still waiting on brownies Bre promised me 4 years ago! Good luck with the shirt

[Stephanie]

Very cool!

[mf_dolphin]

I just spoke with Joey Holleman who wrote the article. I called him to say thanks for the mention and we chatted for a bit. He said he found our site while doing research for his article and thought we stood out. he also said that he planned on using the site this year. He hasn't joined yet but I did extend an invitation.

[southerngale]

That's awesome, Marshall.

[JonathanBelles]

thats great!!

[Janie2006]

I'm still waiting on brownies Bre promised me 4 years ago! Good luck with the shirt

4 year-old brownies = bricks. Have a dentist on call.

[senorpepr]

Awesome! I wonder why they only visited that one forum though. hehe... that was senorpepr and his "May 9 and storms brought to you by the letter A" that they mentioned.

Btw, the 2nd link to storm2k does work.

Haha... I just saw that as well. When a fella sees that, it reaffirms that his efforts are appreciated. Thanks.

[x-y-no]

Awesome! I wonder why they only visited that one forum though. hehe... that was senorpepr and his "May 9 and storms brought to you by the letter A" that they mentioned.

Btw, the 2nd link to storm2k does work.

Haha... I just saw that as well. When a fella sees that, it reaffirms that his efforts are appreciated. Thanks.

Oh they're appreciated all right! I may not comment very often in them, but I always read them.

[Stephanie]

Great news Marshall!